For 3 Days only! 11/19-11/21 Cursed and the Damned is $.99!

Hello blog viewers. Right now if you have a Kindle now is the time to pick up Cursed and the Damned. It is currently only $.99! Please now is the time to read it, or get your friends to check it out. I would appreciate it and I hope it will lead to book sales. I want the world to know about it so everyone please get it out there!


-Michelle

Reflections of Reviews

Well it has been a while since my last post, but I don't really have that much to say. I wish I could say that my book sale were through the roof, but alas I don't think they ever will be. I did recently get my first negative review for Cursed and the Damned and surprisingly it didn't phase me much. If you'd love to see it just type in the book name on Amazon.com and you can read it there.
I don't expect everyone to like it or the writing style, that's how this 'business' works. I just hope that the people who do read it and enjoy it recommend it to others. You can't please everyone in the writing business, but those you do please will be fans for life and those are the people that we, as writers, write for.

Also, to those who have or will read it, please let your real feelings be voiced. Good or bad I really want to hear it.

-Michelle

Contest has ended

I would like to say congratulations to the five people who won the free giveaway contest for Cursed and the Damned. I hope you all enjoy the book. For everyone else, thank you for your interest. If you are still interested in the book, don't hesitate to visit my website http://www.michellescheunemann.com/cursed-and-the-damned.html and click on the links on the right hand side to see where you can purchase the book.

Thank you all again!
-Michelle

The time is nigh for the end of the contest....

Well the end of my first giveaway is near. I wish all of those who entered the best of luck in getting a free copy of Cursed and the Damned. For those of you who don't get the free copy, and from the looks of it there will be many of you, please don't hesitate to check out my website for places you can go to purchase the book. There is a hard cover and Kindle version as well as the paperback. Regardless I hope everyone enjoys the book and would be kind enough to give me a review either on Goodreads, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Again, Good luck to all who entered or will enter in the last day or so!

-Michelle

Progress is being made.

Well I came back to New Jersey even though I really didn't want to. Recently I just started an advertising campaign on Facebook, so hopefully that will generate a little buzz.

My leg is still messed up a little bit and that is giving me a little more time to write during the day. That's a happy thing because we might see a sequel sometime soon. I'm just getting to the part that I really want to write. So this should come along rather quickly...with time out to promote Cursed and the Damned.

With that said, I'm off to write some of the sequel.

-Michelle

A few weeks of ups and downs

Sorry I haven't been as active as I could be. Right now I recovering from a knee injury. Unfortunately that injury has caused some problems for me in my 'real' job since I'm not supposed to be stair climbing. Unfortunately my office is upstairs and that well...kind of makes it hard for me to do that job.

In more pleasant news, I am currently in New Jersey hanging out with a friend and just relaxing a bit. I just purchased a new journal, however this one is not the normal one. It's one for complaining about the stupidity of the human race. It fits right in with my warped sense of humor.

Also, while I'm out here, I'm hitting up the local book stores and handing out my business cards. Surprisingly I handed my card out today and I should be getting a packet in the mail to hopefully start selling it in the store. :) We shall see where this goes, but I'm willing to give anything a shot.

I'm sure I'll have more to tell when I get back from my cross-country adventure. Until then, keep your eyes peeled.

-Michelle

A 'Labor' of love from me to you.

Well, my knee is having some sort of problem, which sucks because having pain is pretty crappy. However, it's the weekend, which means I get to work on my books!

Also, a friend of mine who purchased the book told me what I wanted to hear. He got caught up in Cursed and the Damned.  That's the whole idea! I love getting enveloped in books and drawn in. Well since he got drawn in, it means I did my job! ;)

Now I have a labor day special going on. It starts tonight at Midnight and ends when Labor Day does, but if you have a Kindle and would like to download my book for free, now is the time to do it! Let your friends know as well. It's a great opportunity to read the book for free!

Happy Labor Day!

-Michelle

Another Day, and my first autograph.

Well my week at my regular job has been SO much fun...(yes this is sarcasm). Nothing like having to deal with thousands of price changes on a daily basis. Ugh. Besides that it has been an ok week. The first few buyers of my book have received their copies and seem very eager to read it. The big saving grace was that one of my readers proudly ran up to me with her new copy of my book and of course wanted me to sign it. So, not only did I make her day by signing it, but she made my day with her enthusiasm. Seeing her happy, that made me happy and THAT my friends is what my writing is all about!

Going for the more professional approach

Well today I got my first round of business cards to give away. They look pretty nice. I also know that someone received their copy of my book, so yay! I really hope everyone that purchased it really enjoys it. Not much else to report except that this is a hell week for me at work, so creativewise this week is probably going to have not a whole heck of a lot happening.

So with that being said, I'm off for another round of New Super Mario Bros. 2 before bed.

-Michelle

Book giveaway

Good evening all!

Well let me update you on a few things. I found out today that Cursed and the Damned is now available for purchase on Barnes and Noble.com. That is some good news, right?

Also there is a current giveaway for my book on goodreads. 5 copies are to be given out to 5 lucky readers. I didn't say they would be signed, but that is the plan. This is a great opportunity for those of us with lacking funds to get the book. Check it out!

Also if you're into that twitter thing, you can find me on there now. Just type my name or follow me at AuthorMichelleS .

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I write! Until next time

-Michelle

Just a little something buzzworthy....

Good evening all. I don't have much to say tonight, except that I pretty much took the night off of working on promoting and all that stuff. I've been burning the candle at both ends this past week and it is catching up with me. At least I have eight or so books out there that people have purchased for all of my efforts so far. Thank you!

I am planning a free book give away on Goodreads. Hopefully that will generate some buzz as well. I have some other avenues of advertisement that I plan on using but I plan on using those a little later.

I do have a request for those who read the book. Please rate and review it for me on amazon.com, on  goodreads, on any other site you can think of. That will help too. As much as writing and getting my book out there is a success, YOU folks are the reason anything becomes popular or successful. Remember that!

The problems of being a 'starving artist' or 'struggling author'

Hello readers,
Here's an update on what's going on in the world of Michelle. Last night I purchased some business cards to pass out to people who might be interested in my work. It beats the method I've been using at work, which is writing down my website and telling people to go check it out. I'm a struggling author, gotta do this self promoting somehow.

Next, today I entered the title of my book into the search bar @ Amazon.com and they have the paperback listed. That's happy news. It means it's out there for people to stumble across. The kindle version was pushed back due to an error on the creators part. (Forgetting to include an author, namely yourself is a pretty stupid thing to do.) Luckily they caught my mistake, so happy news there.

And finally I am proud to say I am up to 6 copies of the novel sold. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported me in this step and like I have said before, I hope that you all enjoy reading Cursed and the Damned as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Until the next folly or accomplishment,

-Michelle

Day 1 of being a 'published' author

Well folks, I just updated my account status on goodreads.com and now I am an 'author' by their standards. That is good news! I so far have sold 2 books and the book hasn't even been out for a day. That's even BETTER news! As I've said before, this isn't about me getting revenue even though that is an added perk, it's about making people love what I've done and love the worlds that I've created. I hope everyone that has an opportunity to pick up my book will enjoy what they read. That is the TRUE reward for this. I also want honest feedback, I want to know what everyone thinks of it. With that I leave you with the news that I have updated my website. Also I will show you the entire cover here.

Hardcover Released!

Well folks, I finally did it and before the end of the August! I can now safely say I am a published author. Thank you all to those who helped me out and inspired me along the way. Here is the link to the site

http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=Cursed+and+the+Damned&categoryId=100501

The other versions of the book are soon to follow.
-Michelle

Hard at work on designing my own cover layout.

I figured while I was waiting for Emily to come back with the next round of color, I might as well get to work on actually putting the cover together. Tonight I spent some time working on the cover for the hardback edition of the book. So far it's looking good and I have quite a few pieces in place, including the barcode for the book. All I really need now is the correct picture and the text on the back of the book and we have that one finished. The paperback version may be a bit different, I'm not certain yet, but right now, we're coming along. I'm not going to post the entire cover just yet, but once it's all done. I'll give everyone a sneak peak.

Dear God, is the author insane?

Well I'm a little late getting back to you folks on this. I did get some pics, which most of you saw on my Facebook page and I did get the cover art pencils from Ron, which totally made my Con this year. Also during that time I also found out that the first revision of my cover had been redone. I of course love it. Still needs another revision, but hopefully this will be the last one and then onto making the book cover and going from there. Which means soon I'll be putting myself into overdrive to get this blasted thing out there.

In other news, I started yet another project, which brings my current total to 3. (4 if you count the one we're about to see finished) I really need to focus on just one work, but when so many things inspire you, it's rather hard to just focus on one writing project. In some weird way, multitasking like this helps me in ways I have yet to figure out. I suppose if I get tired of writing one, I can jump to another. Maybe that's why I do it; to spice up life.

Well until next time
-Michelle

Well tomorrow is the first day of the Comic-Con. I hope to have fun, but I know for certain I should be picking up my first purchase for this year. Tomorrow I'll be picking up the pencils for the book. Am I excited? Hell yes! I'm certain to get some pictures so stay tuned for those:)

Color!

Well today was the day I got the colored artwork. Emily did a really nice job on the coloring and I really dig it! I had to send it back however for a few modifications, but otherwise it's done. However I just found out that the formatting for the book is slightly off, so while she is going through and fixing the artwork for me, I am going to be going through and fixing the margins for the manuscript so I can upload it and it will be RIGHT for the publish!

We're so close everyone!
-Michelle

Behold!

Hello everyone, I have some good news to report. My good buddy Ron Lim has come through for us and has finished the pencils for the cover. Atraiu's diadem is in the right place and the shading looks great on the overall artwork. Next comes the coloring. Of course he's not going to be doing that, but it means we are that much closer to a finished product and to Cursed and the Damned being available as a book! Is anyone else excited, or am I the only one?

  Also, Ron sent me another quick sketch of Atraiu and Davali for being so patient with him.

Truly I couldn't be happier. A dream is finally coming together and is slowly coming true.

Michelle

Set backs and an opportunity for you the reader

I'm telling you folks nothing EVER goes as planned. Just last week my new laptop, that was less than 2 months old decided that it wanted to give up the power ghost. Needless to say I was not amused considering that meant set backs! So here I go again editing one more time. I had most of it saved, but some of my newly edited chapters went bye-bye along with the power failure computer. In good news, I did get another laptop out of the deal.

Also it seems that many of you are getting restless for this book coming out. I hear you loud and clear. I'm now lighting the fire. Hopefully it will be enough. Also if any of you who have read the book already would like to make a comment about it and see it on my website, get in touch with me. I'd love to add comments, good or bad. Any publicity is good publicity in my eyes.

Thanks,
Michelle

Update time

Well, here I am again. This time I am here to report that the website is up and running fully. You should be able to locate it by typing in my name to your search engine. So that is a plus. Second of all, since Wondercon is over, I should (hopefully) be getting my pencils done for the book cover and hopefully I can have it sent over and colored (and with luck finished) by Comic-Con. I'd like to pick up the main artwork then.
Alas this is taking far longer than I would have liked, but all good things come to those who wait. I just keep thinking...soon.

My work continues on the sequel to Cursed and the Damned. During my low times during the work day, aka my lunch, I am going through the chapters and editing/re-writing things before I move on to the 'fun' part of the book in my opinion.

That's one thing I love about projects is the fact that there are parts that 'have to' be done and then there are the parts that you just can't wait to get to. Those are the parts that make the process worth while and hopefully those are the parts that you the reader enjoy as well.

Keep your eyes peeled folks there maybe something new coming in the near future. You'll just have to stay tuned until then.

Something new- a website

Now to prove that I am serious about the whole book publishing thing, I created my own website. I don't have a big head, but I figured I might as well start one up before someone else decided to steal the domain. Who knows the book might go somewhere. Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.michellescheunemann.com/

Feel free to send anyone my way if you'd like. Who knows, I may even add a small portion of the book for people to sample. Probably won't be tonight however.

Michelle

Question for those of you who read my blog

Have you ever looked yourself up on the internet? Well for most of us the first thing that will probably come up in this day and age is your facebook page profile. Damn that facebook. However I digress I propose a challenge to you. Look me up on Google and tell me what you find. Perhaps you can spread the word and or the challenge?

Michelle

And the results are in...

Well it's time for the results of the first round of the ABNA contest and low and behold...I didn't make it again! Actually I am so not torn up over this. I look at it this way; one way or another Cursed and the Damned will be published. It just won't be done by a big publishing house. Another good thing is that I can enter it again next year if I so chose even if it is self published.
See the thing is I believe in this book even if no one else does. I've been told it's been a great read, but alas getting the big publishing houses to believe it is another story. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm onto bigger and better things. Only thing I have to wait for now is my cover art to be completely finished.

Looking toward the future

You know, I'm not certain why I write a blog, mostly because I highly doubt that anyone is interested in what I have to say. Perhaps I do it for myself so I can look back on things. Right now I'm looking forward however. Tomorrow I find out if I made it past the preliminary stage of the ABNA contest. Considering I'm a pessimist at heart I'm not holding out for any high hopes. I did get back in touch with Ron and he's working on fixing the small problem in the artwork I posted yesterday. It's getting so close and all that's left after this is a bit of coloring. That means that I can publish the damn thing, unless for some stupid ass reason I end up winning the ABNA contest. (At that point I'd actually be surprised if not floored) Anyway be prepared for a post tomorrow highlighting either another failure or a small win.

-Michelle

A new week and an update!

Hello to all of you wonderful people that actually read my blog!
Well the waiting for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest is almost over. At least the first round of it. We shall see if my pitch was liked enough to move me on to the next round. I'm not holding out for it and if it happens it happens. I got something else this week that made me just as happy if not happier.
I'm certain that an update would have come about sooner, but somewhere in cyberspace an e-mail decided to blip on me and Ron. However today I got a nice little e-mail with the beginnings of my cover. This is the stage before he puts in all the details, but...at least you can get the idea.  
You can see Atraiu's cape is more than a cape and well Davali's tail is a bit obvious too. All in all I love it. (even if it has one slight error.)

What say all of you?

-Michelle

Ramblings of a Tortured Creative Soul

Well it's been awhile since I've had much of anything to report. My old laptop up and died and I finally got a brand new one, which is what I am writing this blog post with now. The past few months have been a roller coaster really. From a writing stand point I'm feeling as if I'm not getting anywhere. I feel that both in work and in the creative process that the more you do, the farther you sink. And even through these trials I still continue to tell myself to keep going, there's GOT to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Needless to say I have yet to find it.

I did however for the third time enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and around the 23rd of February I'll find out if I made it through the first round. I'd like to be hopeful, but I can tell that in the past Science Fiction and Fantasy don't really get far. It's like they overlook that genre and don't take it seriously and THAT my friends pisses me off.

Well, now that I have this computer, I think I shall get back to something that gets me out of this miserable excuse of a world and places me someplace where I don't have to think about my problems for awhile. So off to the kingdom of Altaria and to typing up the 12th chapter of Cursed and the Damned's sequel.